Exercising apparatus



H. wERNDLI. EXER'CISING APPARATUS. APEL'ICATION FILED NQV., l, 19.19..

1,374,697, l f men 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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fwd Apr. 12, 1921'.

H. WERNDLI. EXERCISING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED NOV-'1. ,1919.

2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

- ters or figures ci reference 'marked thereon,

l lnn'iivnicii wiinivDLi-,or zi'iiticifi, SWITZERLAND;

4iaxxnnorsrive APPARATUS.

To all whom zj may concern: r f

Be it known that I, HEINRICH WniiNDLi, a'citizeirof the Republic ofSwitzerland, residing Switzerland, vhave invented certain new anduseiilimprovements in Exercising Apparatus; and i do hereby declare thefollowing Vto `be clear, full, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains tomake and use the saine, reference being 'had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to letwhich form a part o :t this speciiication.

This invention relates to that classfof ap pai'atus, known as homegymnasiums orv ex- 'ercisers, adapted to be used for exercising insupported and suspended or hanging positions.

Exercising apparatuses are already known which comprise straps guided'over rolls or pulleys, the part of the straps thathangs downward on oneside oi" the rolls being projvided with a handle while to the other partof these straps that hangs downward on the other side orl the rolls, aloop for supporting the foot is attached. Furthermore, there arealsoknown exercising apparatuses con-` structed after the principle ofa;tackle,'in

which the resistance of springs, weights, etc., iixed tothe floor. andconnected up to the tackle is overcome by exerting a pull on the freeend lont' a rope which is guided over the rolls or pulleys of thetackle.

All these known exercising apparatuses have thedisadvantage of providingonly for.

a one-sided movement of certain parts of the body, since the differentexercises have tobe carried out eitherin a prone or upright position. v

The present invention has therpurpose of providing an apparatus, adaptedto be Vused in supported and suspended positions in order to attain anall-around training of the body, andto provide'an'. apparatus thatenables delicate persons and'persons of everyy age to carry out withoutfear oi over-exertL ing themselves, exercises which arel veryadvantageous from a point of health and which,l withthe knownapparatuses andarrangements couldnot be carried out at all or only byvery strong persons. Y --j VAn apparatus constructed in accordance withthis invention comprises two pulleys freely hanging downward on a memberthat speication-of Lettersratent, Y

Appiieaeion ined November 1.1919. serial No.

at 'i7guri ch, Rossbergstrasse 24,

arrangement. 1

' Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate dii-ferent posi- '1 and 2 respectively.

rat; ntaAprgie'-, resi,

acts as holder, orinstance a ceiling, vbeam,i

tree or the like, supporting members such as' straps, each guidedover-'one of said pulleys,Vv

handlesiixed to the portion of the'supporting membersliangingdownward onone side of their guiding pulleysjand'foot supports fixed to the portionofthe supporting memf bers hanging downwardon theother. side of` theirguiding pulleys, the body of theexerf yciser beingy adapted to becarried totally said two 4supporting members. Each .foot support may be`tixedto an ade .ditiona'l pulley over which 'a-portion oi theLcorresponding strap is guided, the free endr or' said strap portionbeing then fixed to a member carrying the guide pulley and said f strapportion forming4v a loop irl-which the additional guide pulley isloosely arranged.;

Thereby, each strap forms .together with the two pulleys over which itis passedand'sai'd member carrying theguide pulley, atackle Figure 1 isa. liront view oaiirst con# struction according to this. inventioncomprisingtwo .tackle-arrangements;

Fig 2 is a front view of one half of a second embodiment in which thefeet sup.

ports; are ydirectly suspended on `the straps.

F10. 3 shows another. manner of using the"vv apparatus illustratedinfFigQ. A

tions which the exerciser can take up when using the apparatusillustrated in" F.ig. .1, while .j

Fig. 7 shows a position that canbe taken up by an exerciser using the4apparatus illustrated in Fig. y2. n

Fig. 8 shows on'an enlarged scale amodiiication of astop. Referring atiirst to' Fig.' 1, t denotes two straps each of whichpasses over` apulley Each oi the pulleysv 1 and 2 is rotatably mounted ina stirrup 3.

The stirrups 3 areprovided with a hook 4;*

inorder that they may be suspended ona screw-eye fixed to a holdingmember, for instance a ceiling, girder, tree or the like.l

of holes 6. Into one'ofthe holesfof'the portion 7 ofthe straps hangingdownwardy .The straps a vare provided with a. plurality.

on one side of the pulleysl 1 and 2res'pecV tively, is inserted yastirrup-like handle 8.,

vEach' .handle 8'is .providedwith ahook-:like member or projection .91.The. portion- 9 'of the straps a hanging downward .on the vother side ofthey pulleys 1 'and 2 respectively is guided over a second, loose pulleyand itis connected at its free end by means of a spring hook 11 to thestirrup 3 of the" pulleys 1 and 2 respectively. The pulley 1 togetherwith its stirrup 3 and the strap' a passing over` this pulley and one ofthe radditional pulleys 10 constitute together a tackle-arrangement;similarly, alsothe pulley 2 together with its stirrup 3 and the strap apassing over this pulley 2 and the Each" these stirrups 12fis suspendeda stirrup 15 by means of 'a band 13and a ring 14. The

, stirrups 12 are provided withfa turned up projection1121. r16designates safety pins or stops each of which -is adapted to beVVpassedrthrough-a hole 6'of the strap portions 9 in order to preventupon its strik-V ing against lthe stirrup 3 afurther downward movementof the handle 8. f Near the free end ofthe portion-9 Vof the straps aareV described, the exerciser seizes in the manner illustrated in `Figs.4, 5 and 6 the handles 8 pushingj at the same time his feet into thestirrupsv 15. VAccording as he exerts a pull onto the portions 7 ofthestrap a by suspending his body lon the handles 8 or as he uses thelatter as a support, he is able to cause his limbs or the whole body toassume different positions. Owing Vto the provision of saidtackle-arrangement, .thel forcethat has to bev exerted for carrying outthediffeient exercises is much smaller than that which has to bel"exerted for thel same 'exercises Von gymnasium apparatuses of thekind'hitherto known. By using the novel apparatus also weakerfan'duntrained people are fable to carry out at once' exercises which onknown apparatuses can be carried out only by very strong gymnasts. Anyoverstraining of the exerciser is thereby'avoided.

Fig. 4 shows the manner in which the ap` paratus may be used, forinstance, for Vcausing a lifting of the leg and knee in a `rearwardvdirection, anv -exercise very suitable for curing rheumatism in 'thekneeand hip* joints.v The apparatus may also be used in a similar mannerfor lifting thev leg and the knee in a forward direction.

Fig. 5 shows theuse ofthe apparatus in the leaning hang, in which casean expansion of thechest and strengthening of the armandshoulder-musclesis attained. This leaning hang into which one is'able topass from the so-called yleaning-rest by lowering oneself and stretchingthe arms upward and in which position the body mainly rests v on thehands, canbe executed by delicate and untrained persons. This Fig.-shows the handles is prevented by the stops orpins Y 16 bearing againstthe stirrups, 3 carryingv the guide pulleys 1` and 2 respectively. v

Fig. 6 shows how thek body of the exer-4 ciser may be brought into thestretched Vhang in which the arms are nearly vertical the upward bentprojectionof the stirrups' r12 and inserting the hook 91 of the handles8 from below into one of the loops 17.

VIn the arrangement according to Fig.'2

no additional pulleys '10 are provided. In

this case the stirrup 15 is directly fixed to the portion l9 of thestrap a by means 'of a.

band 13, ring 14 and Carbine-hook 19. AThen using this apparatus morestrengthv for exerting lthe various exercises is required than it is thecase, when the rst described appa ratus is used.

Fig. 7 shows how this apparatus lcan beV usedwhen it is desired to passfrom thev resting on the hands position into a hanging position bylifting the stretchedv arms sidewise from which positionv itis thenpossible to move into the suspension V with lstretched legs position bylowering' the body By attaching Athe free endA offthe portion icc 9 of astrap a by means of the carbine hook 19 to the handle 8 in the mannershownvin Fig. 3, this secondV form oit kapparatus may be used forexercising inthesame way as the so-called rings, whereby the amount ofstrength required is greater than when using the apparatus in the mannershown in Figs. 2 and 7.

Instead of the pins 16 other means may be provided for preventingtliehandles 8 from moving below a certain height. Fig. 8 shows forinstance such means which have the shape of a link cfa chainconsistingof two halves 20 and 21 which are normally held in engagementby a spring 22, which latter.

allows the part 21 being pulled 'out of part 20 and turned around theaxis of the spring, in which case the oneend of the half 2() may i i ifbe inserted into or pulled out respectively ofY one of the holes 6 ofthetape a, whereafter the part 21'is turned back in order to be broughtagain link part 20.

I claim:v y q 1. In an exercising apparatus, a pulley block arrangedforoverhead suspension, a strap connected at one end to said block andintoengagement 5 with the freeend and forming a loop, a pulley blocksuspended in said loop and stirrup like foot ,supports connected to thevpulley block ,in

said loop for supporting lthe person ex.-

ercising. v

2. In an exercising apparatus, apulley block arranged for overheadsuspension,.a`

strap connected at one end to said block and passing over the pulley ofsaid block and provided with a stirrup-lilre handleon lits free end andforming a loop, a pulley block suspended in said'loop, stirrups con-ynected to the pulley block in said loop, and stops on said strap tolimit the extent of movement of the'handled end.`

3. In an exercising apparatus, a pulley block for overhead suspension, astrap connected' at one end to said block and passing over the pulley ofsaid blockto form a loop, a said strap having spaced stop engagingmeans, a handle connected to the free end' of said strap, spaced meanson the end of the strap, and engaging-.means on the handle cop'eratingwith `the latter spaced means to fasten the free end of the strap toperforations, a stop adjustable from Vone perforation to another, saidstop for abutment against the Vpulley .block to limit the movement ofthe strap'thereover, a handle connected to one end of the strap, loopson thestrap and a'hook onthe handle for engaging 1n said loops.

5. In an exercising apparatus, a-pair of pulley blocks for overheadsuspension,-l

straps, one end of each of which is secured to a pulley block and theother end passed over the pulley of said block to form a loop, a pulleysuspended in each loop, and va seat whose ends'are detachably connectedto the latter pulley blocks, and handles'on the ends of the straps. o'

6. An exercising apparatus comprising a holder, means freely hanging onsaid holder, two pulleys rotatably mounted on Asaid means, two strapseach of which is guided over one of said pulleys and hangsv downward onboth sidesvoi its guide pulley, the

portion of each ystrap hanging downward on the one side of its guidepulley forming a loopand being fixed at its lfree end tothe l meanscarrying lsaid pulley, a handle contwo` pulleys rotatably mounted onsaid means, two straps each of which is guided so over one of saidpulleys that it ,hangs downward on both sides of its guide pulley, vtheportion of each strap hanging ldownward on the one side of its guidepulley forminga loop and being fixed at its free endto the meanscarrying said pulley, a handle 'connected to the kportion of each straphanging downward on the other side of its guide pulley, two additionalpulleys arranged in said loops'ofl the straps, each strap formingtogether with. its guidel pulley, the additional guide pulley arrangedVin its loop and the means carrying its guide pulley aVtaclrle-arrangement, foot supports for the exerciser connected to saidadditional pulleys and means on the last menguided so'over one of saidpulleys that it v hangsl downward on-both sides of itsV guide ,pulleythe portion of each straplianging downward on the one side of its guidepulley forming a loop and being ylixed at its free end tothemeanscarrying said pulley, a v

strap hanging downward on the other side of i' its guide pulley, twoadditional pulleys arranged in'said loops of the straps, ea'ch straphandle yconnected to 'they portion of each` forming together with itsguide pulley, the y additional guide pulleyV arranged Vin its loop .Yand the means carrying its 'guide pulley a tackle-arrangement, iootsupports for the exerciser connected to said additional pulleys, hooksfixed to the last mentioned pulleys, and a rod-like body on said hooks.

Y In .testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I.havesigned my name. f Y y HEINRICH WERNDLI.

1 -Witnessz Y ARNOLD V LEHNER

